Did Russia Try to Rescue Julian Assange? | Vanity Fair

Assange photographed on the balcony of the Embassy Of Ecuador in London on May 19, 2017.

By Jay Shaw Baker/NurPhoto/Getty Images.

The bizarre web that links Julian Assange and WikiLeaks with Roger Stone and Robert Muellers Russia investigation gained another strand on Friday, when The Guardian reported that Russian diplomats held covert talks in London to devise a plan to spring Assange from his hidey-hole in the Ecuadorian embassy. Provisionally scheduled for Christmas Eve 2017, the operation involved ensconcing the WikiLeaks founder in a diplomatic vehicle and likely whisking him off to Russia. According to four sources, the plan was backed by the Kremlin, though it was ultimately deemed too risky and abandoned at the last minute.

Though details are hazy, the paper reports that Fidel Narvez, who recently served as Ecuadors London consul and has a close relationship with Assange, was the point of contact with Moscow. Narvez has denied being involved in any such discussions, while Russias embassy in London (whose response to the Salisbury Novichok poisoning included posting a picture of Pierce Brosnan with the caption: Does Russias dialing code 007 make James Bond a Russian spy?) tweeted Friday that the story was simply another example of disinformation and fake news from the British media.

Assange arrived at the embassy disguised as a motorcycle courier in June 2012 and sought political asylum days after he had lost a battle against extradition to Sweden, where two women had accused him of rape. Both cases were eventually dropped, but Assange is still liable for breaching the conditions of his bail. He has since remained penned-up in the embassy, appearing in public only to deliver speeches from a Romeo and Juliet-style balcony affixed to his quarters. In private, though, he has received a roster of guests, from Brexiteer Nigel Farage (who, asked by BuzzFeed about the reason for the visit, said he couldnt remember what he had been doing in the building) to, during the summer of 2016, several Russians, including some senior figures from the Kremlin-owned network RT, with whom he signed a deal for The Julian Assange Show back in 2011.

Assange continued his work for WikiLeaks until his Internet access was severed in March. Which means he was still at the helm of the site when it published hacked e-mails from the Democratic National Committee and senior Democratic officials months before the 2016 election. The move was received enthusiastically by Donald Trump (I love WikiLeaks, he crowed during an October 2016 rally), but just how the site got hold of the cache of e-mails has become a key question in Muellers investigation into whether or not Russia colluded with the Trump campaign. Over the course of the probe, WikiLeaks has popped up in connection with Robert Mercer-backed firm Cambridge Analyticathough the firms C.E.O. denied contact with the Web site, one of its directors, Brittany Kaiser, visited Assange in February last year, reportedly telling friends it was to discuss the U.S. election.

WikiLeaks has also been mentioned in connection with political trickster Roger Stone, who may have known about the leaked D.N.C. e-mails before they were published (an allegation he has denied), and who maintained a dialogue both with the site and with Russian hacker Guccifer 2.0. Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg said he was asked about Stones ties to WikiLeaks when he appeared before a grand jury this past spring. The fact that Roger hasnt been called in and the special counsel continues to ask questions about Rogers possible activities during the election shows that at the very least hes a subject, he replied. When Mueller indicted a dozen Russian operatives in July, he flagged a person who was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, who swapped messages with Guccifer 2.0. Stone has admitted that he is probably that person.

WikiLeaks, and Russia being mentioned in the same breath is one thing. But if Russian officials were indeed involved in a plan to spring Assange and spirit him away to the motherlanda plan that as of yet has no obvious motivationMueller may have hit on a fresh avenue to explore that links them concretely.

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Did Russia Try to Rescue Julian Assange? | Vanity Fair